Archbishop emeritus of the Metropolitan Diocese of Douala and former bishop of Yagoua, His Eminence Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi has passed on to glory.
Born on 15 October 1930 in the village of Kikaikelaki in Kumbo, Cardinal Tumi died on Friday, 02 April 2021 in Douala.
He died on Good Friday, a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary.
He was ordained a priest on 17 April 1966 in Soppo, diocese of Buea and from 1966 to 1967. From 1967 to 1969 he was a professor at the Bishop Rogan College minor seminary. In 1973, after having studied abroad, he returned to his diocese and was named rector of the major regional seminary of Bambui, archdiocese of Bamenda.
Cardinal Tumi was the first and only Cameroonian cardinal.
He was succeeded as archbishop of Douala by Samuel Kleda, who had been Coadjutor Archbishop.
He was a staunch advocate for a just society and always preached peace and called for dialogue in solving the four-year-long socio-political crisis in Cameroon.
H.E Cardinal Tumi was the initiator of the Anglophone General Conference and was briefly kidnapped on 05 November 2020 and released on 06 November 2020.
Accused by his abductors to have taken side with the government, Cardinal Tumi rejected such claims and told them that he was not employed by the government.
“I am not the mouthpiece of the government, I am not employed by the government… I will preach the truth, … Nobody has the right to tell me to preach the contrary because I was called by God” he told his abductors.
Before his demise, he received a title of nobility from the Nso community where he hailed from.
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